[siebert] loyalists AND SIX NATION INDIANS 125 



Robert Henderson, and Noah Fairchild. The settlers who had come 

 to Long Point before 1796 were now confirmed in the possession of the 

 farms they had chosen, and proclamations were issued inviting others, 

 especially Loyalists, to take up lands in the new districts of Upper 

 Canada.^ 



Immigrants from New Brunswick transported their families in 

 open boats up the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes to their destina- 

 tion; while those who came directly from the States navigated the 

 Hudson and Black rivers to Sackett's Harbor, thence passing by way 

 of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to Long Point; or if they journied 

 overland, they followed blazed trails through the forests, or the devious 

 paths of the Indian across Pennsylvania and New York to Niagara, 

 or some point on Lake Erie. The passage of the lake was effected 

 in small skiffs. When, finally, the weary pilgrims found themselves 

 in the wilderness of Norfolk County, they received no government 

 aid beyond their land grants and the glass and iron ware for their 

 cabins. The supplies of food, clothing, seed, tools, etc., which had 

 been furnished, in however dilatory a manner, to the mass of refugee 

 settlers immediately after the Revolution, were denied to those par- 

 ticipating in this later migration. Hence, Norfolk County witnessed 

 a "fearful struggle for subsistence" among the pioneers during the 

 closing years of the eighteenth century.^ 



The efforts of Lieutenant Governor Powell to increase the Loyal- 

 ist population of the province bore fruit in the Long Point country 

 and probably in the surrounding regions. The evidence relating to 

 Long Point shows that the townships of Charlotteville, Walsingham, 

 and Woodhouse gained notably in the number of refugee settlers 

 during the year 1798, 1799, and 1800. It is recorded that during 

 these years the home of Captain Ryerse was never without visiting 

 home-seekers, or "travellers", during the summer season. A sum- 

 mary of Loyalist arrivals for this period gives three families and four 

 individuals for 1798, five families and four individuals in 1799 and three 

 families and four individuals in 1800. Among the newcomers in the 

 first of these years were Elder Titus Finch from Nova Scotia, whither 

 he had gone in 1784, and Daniel French, a Methodist minister from 

 New Jersey. Mr. Finch settled in Charlotteville, and became the 

 leader of the Baptists at Long Point. He rode on circuit for many 

 years, conducting services in various parts of the settlement. He 

 appears to have been a popular preacher, able to draw crowds beyond 

 the capacity of the homes in which he preached. On summer days 



1 Papers and Records, Ont. Hist. Soc, II, 45, 46, 30, 92, 93, 87; Owen, Pioneer 

 Sketches of Long Point Settlement, 93, 194-199, 312, 382, 383. 



2 Papers and Records, Ont. Hist. Soc, II, 30, 47, 26, 27. 



